OPINION: Love them or hate them, the Paul brothers have infused life into combat sports
Photo via Erik Drost, CC BY 2.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0>, via Wikimedia Commons
Digital Managing Editor Marc Goldstein, a Junior studying Journalism with a minor in Sports Management, argues that the Paul brothers have shaken up the business model of combat sports.
Right off the bat, this is far from a puff piece on the Paul brothers. Jake and Logan Paul have rubbed many the wrong way due to their brash nature and outlandish statements in the media. However, that does not mean there cannot be any sort of appreciation for what the pair have done.
By this point, everyone seems to know the story of the Paul brothers. Jake and Logan were mainstream creators on the now-defunct app Vine. Hailing from the Cleveland area, Logan actually attended Ohio University for a semester over a decade ago before he and his younger brother jetted off to Southern California to fully commit to being content creators. While in Los Angeles, they grew in popularity, getting roles on TV shows and movies.
However, everything changed in 2020. Without anything else to do during the pandemic, Jake began to follow in the footsteps of Logan, who had fought in a pair of boxing matches. Jake made his professional debut in 2020 and won his first fight. This, however, is not really about Jake’s success in the ring. Yes, Paul owns an 11-1 lifetime record in the ring, but that is merely a footnote to a certain extent.
Paul’s most recent fight against 58-year-old Mike Tyson, a former champion from the 1990s who is arguably one of the best pound-for-pound fighters in history, has circulated through the headlines. While the fight itself was sleepy at best and provided very little action, Paul received over $40 million just to get in the ring against Tyson, results be damned. Paul defeated Tyson by unanimous decision, but, again, the results are a footnote on the story of the Paul brothers.
In 2021, Jake founded Most Valuable Promotions (MVP) to give exposure for the fights that the brothers would engage in over the next couple of years. Since its founding, the company has made over $200 million. In addition to promoting Jake’s fights, MVP signed another boxer, seven-time champion Amanda Serrano, as a headliner. Serrano became the first female boxer to headline a fight at the world’s most famous arena, Madison Square Garden in New York.
The interesting thing about Paul is how he has revolutionized the entire combat-sport industry despite not technically being a part of it. In boxing, a participant cannot be part of the rankings for championship fights without a certain number of amateur fights, something Paul does not possess. Additionally, Paul is signed to a company that is not sanctioned by the World Boxing Council (WBC), making him ineligible unless the WBC Chairman, Mauricio Sulaiman, gives special permission.
How, one could ask, could a boxer who is not eligible to win any titles be the next great thing to come to combat sports? Simply put, Paul markets himself better than anyone in the sports world. Combat sports have been dominated by larger-than-life personalities. Muhammed Ali, Tyson, Floyd Mayweather, Connor McGregor and Canelo Alvarez are just a few of the characters who have dominated in, no pun intended, this arena for years.
Paul is in the same stratosphere. His fights get more views and bring in more money than any others. Some of that comes from the name brands that he is fighting - everyone knows Tyson, thus leading to more eyeballs. More times than not, though, Paul is able to push the right buttons to generate the largest audiences. Paul-Tyson was streamed on Netflix, making it the first live sports event to be broadcasted on the streaming service. Additionally, the fight was held at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, one of the largest indoor stadiums in the country, bringing in more bodies to watch the fight.
Like it or not, Jake Paul is really good at marketing himself. He says brash things to the press to get more word-of-mouth circulating while putting himself in the public view as much as possible. His latest fight against Tyson is a perfect example of this. The fight was overwhelmingly awful. There were no knockdowns and the fight didn’t start until after midnight on the East Coast. Still, the viewership was there. As Paul continues to box, those numbers are only going to grow, breathing life into combat sports. As everyone knows, people would rather watch a villain lose than anything else. Paul is perfectly fine being that villain as long as the all-mighty dollar keeps rolling in.
Please note that these views and opinions do not reflect those of The New Political.
